A medical worker puts on protective equipment in Houston, Texas, which is facing an acute shortage of intensive care unit beds amid Coronavirus surge (Reuters)
The US Coronavirus death toll rises by almost 1,100 as a Donald Trump ally, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, backs away further from “reopening” and schools report a surge in cases after resuming in-person classes.
US deaths are now 164,537 with 1,075 fatalities on Wednesday. Confirmed cases are 5,141,207, an increase of 46,869.
Abbott, in a meeting in the Gulf Coast region, told officials that hospitalizations and cases are far too high for a lifting of business closures and other restrictions.
The governor was one of the first to set aside stay-at-home measures, in defiance of medical and public health advice, after Trump demanded reopening in April — only weeks after the White House finally issued guidelines to limit the spread of the virus.
But the reopened businesses, restaurants, bars, and public spaces such as beaches soon spurred a resurgence of the virus. Texas, which escaped much of the first wave, soared to third in the the US in cases, with 517,700. Its death toll is now 9,222, fourth in the country.
Local leaders and doctors warned that medical systems could not cope, as intensive care units filled to near-capacity. Last month Abbott reimposed some restrictions, reversed his position and ordered wearing of masks in public spaces, and defied Trump by embracing online-only classes for some schools.
The state’s infection rate has eased since a 7-day average of more than 10,000 per day in mid-July, but it is still at 7,560. The current positivity rate is 24.2% of tests.
Abbott has set a 10% positive test rate as a fundamental goal, higher than the World Health Organization’s guidance of at or below 5% for at least 14 days before reopening.
“The most important thing I can convey today is that even though the numbers of Covid-19 have improved,” the governor said Tuesday, “Covid-19 has not left Jefferson County, has not left Orange County, has not left the State of Texas.”
Many Texas GOP leaders have challenged Abbott’s reimposition of measures. Some legislators insist that, instead of issuing orders, he should have called for a special session of the Legislature. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has belittled medical advisors, saying the US Government’s top Coronavirus expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, “doesn’t know what he’s talking about”.
Cases Raise Doubts Over School Reopening
In his daily White House briefing, Trump lied that the rise in cases in Germany, France, Spain, and other European countries are far greater than the US surge.
In fact, Germany’s total on Tuesday was 966 cases and four deaths. France has had a 7-day average of about 1,600 infections a day.
Trump’s latest deception was defied by reports of coronavirus spikes as soon as schools resumed in-class instruction and group activities.
Near Birmingham, Alabama, an entire high school football team has been quarantined after five positive tests. In Cherokee County, Georgia, school district administrators posted a tally Tuesday morning of everyone ordered into quarantine: 826 students and 42 staff members. In nearby Paulding County, nine staff and students tested positive at a Georgia high school where a student posted a video photograph of crowded hallways and no wearing of masks.
In July, 18 students, three coaches and 17 close contacts fell ill after an outbreak in Kentucky on the Hazard High School football team. In a small town in Minnesota, at least six football players tested positive for the virus at Lewiston-Altura High School after attending training camp.
At Appalachian State University in North Carolina, students returned to campus this week. But 10 children and five staff members of a child care facility on campus tested positive for the virus.
